Apprentice
by Lythian-Malfoy
Summary: At a reading of Sirius Black's will, Severus and Harry make peace, and a plan. Little did Harry know, the plan had been orchestrated behind his back, and one way or another, the plan would go ahead.
1. Chapter 1

Severus Snape, the evil git of Hogwarts (a title he had much pride in holding) was sitting in his 'bat cave', going over the OWL results for his sixth year class, comparing it to the list of predictions.

"Crabbe… D… yep tick! Greengrass… O… tick! Goyle… T… D is close enough… Tick! Granger… O of course… Tick. Malfoy… There must be some mistake with that grade… just put that over there… Potter… Another mistake…"

And so it went. The two papers, one belonging to a blonde aristocrat, Draco Malfoy, and another belonging to a messy black haired student, Harry Potter sat until the end.

Looking at the handwriting first, he could see that this one defiantly belonged to one Draco Malfoy. The large red E, circled in the top corner was the reason for this paper being re-checked.

10 minutes later, Severus was stumped. The paper only barely scrapped into an E… something that he never would have expected. Next he picked up the messily scrawled paper. Definitely Potters. In the top corner, a red O was annoying him.

15 minutes later, Severus was frustrated. The paper was definitely O material. The description of polyjuice potion was as if he had taken it himself, and his description of what happened should an animal hair be substituted, spot on. He knew the boy was bright. It had frustrated him for the last 5 years that the boy was not pushed to live up to his potential. Lilly Evans was one of the best charms and potions students (second in potions only to Severus Snape), a scholar (and Slytherin) to the core. James Potter, although being an arrogant bint did have a knack for transfiguration. A knack which apparently Potter Jnr lacked – not for lack of power or skill either, but for lack of trying.

Whilst he was stewing, Harry Potter was sitting in his room thinking about the last year. The death of his godfather, his failure at occlumancy, and his failure to attempt to settle his differences with a certain professor. His failure to protect his friends and the loss of trust between himself and the headmaster were also heavy on his mind. The greatest burden by far was the prophecy between himself and Voldemort. Kill, or be killed.

The Dursleys, horrible people though they were, had left Harry well enough alone since the threats from the train station. Vernon left for work straight after breakfast, and Petunia always had "errands" to run. Dudley just acted naturally. Every morning he stuffed his face, then he went out to hunt down poor unsuspecting 9 year olds. This meant Harry had the house almost always to himself. When the rest of the Dursleys returned (after 5), he would just adjourn to his room, ready to emerge when next the house was empty.

Every third day (which was circled in bright red on the calendar), Harry would sit down, under the watchful gaze of both Vernon and Petunia, and write a short note, usually along the lines of "All is well here. HJP", which was given to Hedgwig and delivered to the nearest order member – usually the one in the back garden.

That was another thing annoying our hero. His guards. There were 4 of them at any one time – one in the back yard, one patrolling the entire house, one out in the front garden, and one over head on a broomstick. 24hrs a day, 7 days a week. He knew the basic roster by now, Tonks, Mad Eye, Kingsley and another wizard Harry did not know took turns doing the patrol, acting as shift supervisor. Charlie Weasley and three others he did not know were the overhead flyers, Dung and the twins took the front yard along with a new recruit every night, and the back was another place for new recruits. Shifts were 6 hours, with one shift change about every 1 and a bit hours. Each shift change had a 5 minute handover, before the second person left. The entire thing was run with military precision, not only to keep the bad guys out, but himself in. The one time he had left the house for a walk, he had made it three steps, before Tonks, Charlie and Fred were surrounding him. They had escorted him for the three mile walk and not said a word, remaining disillusioned. The next day he had received a letter with 4 words on it. "Stay in the House."

Whilst Harry was musing, a snowy white owl glided through his window, and landed on his shoulder.

"Hey Hedwig. What's that?" he murmured as he remove the letter from her foot.

The letter was in a perfectly white envelope, on the back a golden seal of a set of scales.

Peeling it back, Harry removed the letter from within, carefully unfolding it. The paper was official, in the top right hand corner was another copy of the seal.

_Dear Mister H. J. Potter._

_Allow me to introduce myself, I am Francis Delacore from Delacore and Sons Legal Services. It has come to our attention that one of our clients, Sirius Black, recently passed on. We would first like to issue our condolences to you, he was a fine man._

_We have spent the last 2 weeks getting his affairs in order, and would like to inform you that his last will and testament will be read tomorrow at noon. The reading is private, between you and two others, one Remus Lupin and one Severus Snape._

_To get to our office, please ensure you have your hand on the seal at the top of this letter at 10:00am. _

_Our condolences once again._

_Francis Delacore_

_Managing Director_

_Delacore and Sons Legal Services_

Minutes after Harry had put the letter down, another appeared in a burst of flame – obviously dropped off by Fawkes.

_Harry_

_Remus informed me of a letter you would have just received. You are forbidden from going to the solicitors meeting. I will go in your stead._

_Dumbledore._

Furious would not begin to describe the current state of our hero. Oh no. He had a right to go to this will reading, and go to it he would. He also knew a werewolf that was going to get a piece of his mind.

That night, Harry went to bed angry. He woke up at dawn, and began preparing for the day. He dug around in his trunk until he found what he was looking for. The only way to tame his hair, a small bottle of liquid. Pouring out a teaspoon full, he drank it, relishing the tingling feeling that covered his scalp. The potion was meant to cause baldness, however due to a mistake by Neville, who's potion decided to migrate to his own, he ended up with a hair growth potion. Within seconds his hair was down to the nape of his neck. He pulled it back and tied it up with a black ribbon.

At 10am, he placed his hand on the seal. Harry felt himself being 'slurped' down towards the seal, then being projected out at the other end.

"Sorry about that. The method we used to get you here is a lot like being drunk I suppose… I guess one would need to ask a glass of water to be really sure.."

Harry looked up. In front of him was a stocky man with a graying beard and hair, wearing formal black robes. They were in a mahogany study, lit by green lamps and the fireplace.

"My name is Francis, I am sure you received my letter… otherwise you would not be here. The others will be arriving in half an hour, however I thought it best if we got you some concealing robes so that this does not get back to Albus."

Frederick waved his wand quickly, and a set of gold embroidered black robes appeared. Placing them on, Harry found that although the hood almost covered his face, he could see perfectly. The robes were made out of a heavy cloth of obvious high quality.

"For your privacy, and to give a reason as to why you are here, there is a single letter that I will give to you, calling you James."

"Thankyou sir. Oh and the Headmaster said he would be coming in my stead today…"

"No he won't Mister Potter. For one, it is illegal, and two, he and I do not get along."

Harry nodded his understanding.

Half an hour later, a man in black billowing robes and a scowl on his face strode in and sat down.

"Welcome Mister Snape. We are just waiting for a couple more people."

A minute later, there was a loud voice yelling in the hallway, demanding entrance. Fredrick chuckled as he cast the activating words for the protective wards on the building, which unceremoniously dumped the headmaster out onto the street. Remus Lupin was ushered in not long after.

"Take a seat Mister Lupin. Let's get started."

Frederick opened a manila folder and pulled out a sheet of paper.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, on this, the 12th of October, 1995, being of sound body and mind, declare this to be my last will and testament.

To James, I leave this letter." At this, Frederick handed over a small envelope. "Read it."

Cautiously, Harry pulled open the letter and began reading the contents to himself.

_Harry._

_This is the fifth time I have written this letter. I wrote it the first time the day after I left on Buckbeak, and now I write it on the last day of my life. I knew it was the end… something a Black always knows. And I am glad I did it the way I did. _

_For the last few years I have been trapped. Did you know that Peter was captured by the order a few months ago? Well he was. He was also released, with a tracking charm. For the last few months of my life, I could have been free. Who do I blame? Dumbledore. Sure he is the leader of the 'light' – but please Harry. Don't trust him more than you have to and try to get out from under his thumb._

_In this will there are a number of papers you need to sign, including –estate control papers, deed transferals and the like I wish I could emancipate you, but my guardianship over you is not recognized due to my status as "Criminal"._

_Here is something I never thought I would say. Appologise to Snape for me. We were twits back then, and there is no excuse for it. The two of you would work well together. Your front does not fool me. Dumbledore told me of the hat's initial wants – Slytherin. It is a side of you that you need to get in touch with, because as much as I love you, I do not want to see you in the after life for at least another 80 years._

_Take care,_

_Sirius Black._

Once he folded the letter and returned it to the envelope, he nodded to Frederick, who took up from where he left off.

"To Remus Lupin. Answer this question truthfully. Did you alert Dumbledore that Harry was meant to be here today specifically?"

The were nodded reluctantly.

"Then to you, R. J. Lupin, I leave one Galleon. You broke the oath. To Severus Snape, I leave the deeds to _the shed_, as a partial apology, and in the hope that he can overcome the hatred that we caused in his soul. I also leave him three million galleons and this letter."

Severus' eyes practically lit up at the mention of _the shed_. At Lupin's queering look, he decided to explain.

"The shed was a large building that Black was given on his 5th birthday. By his sixth we had turned it into a large potions making, prank creating warehouse. On his eleventh, we made a pact, to keep our friendship strong, no matter what happened at the sorting. A pact he broke."

He then read the letter to himself, raised an eyebrow and then placed the letter in the envelope inside his cloak.

"Now that's settled, to Harry Potter, I leave everything else. Okay then I need the three of you to sign a copy of the will, then one by one my secretary will come in and take you to collect your possessions."

When everyone had signed, a plump lady waddled into the room, and asked for Remus to follow her.

When Remus had left, Frederick left through a back door. Severus spoke up.

"Well Potter, you never were one to follow rules, were you?"

Harry grinned as he pulled back the cowl on the cloak.

"Good to see you too professor. Before this conversation degrades to insults, as they have a tendency to do, I would like to apologise, both for my father and godfather, and for my actions. They were wrong, and I have never been so ashamed of them in my life."

Severus quirked an eyebrow.

"That was … Unexpected. Apology accepted. I would also like to apologise. I did not teach you as well as I should."

"Thankyou sir. Um…"

"Yes Potter?"

"Here."

Harry passed the letter to Severus, who scanned it quickly.

"Really? A Potter in Slytherin… Your father would be tossing in is grave. Your mother would be proud though…"

"Proud sir?"

"Your mother was no Gryffindor, Potter. She was cunning, clever, smart and ambitious. Tell me the house that would then suit her best?"

"Slytherin."

"Good Mister Potter. As for this 'out from under Dumbledores thumb', which I assume is what you wanted me to see, there are three main options. 1) Change schools. 2) Find a master and apprentice your self to him or 3) Leave the wizarding world. Or you could just try and avoid his machinations, although when you are under his control at school, that is difficult."

"Apprentice?"

"Yes Potter. Apprentice. Although not common anymore, due to the accessibility of the school systems, ages ago apprenticeships were rather common. It was a great honor to be chosen by a master to apprentice under them. Most were taught through their parents, at about 16 the boys could undergo a choosing. All of the masters in the region who wished to take on an apprentice would gather in one spot, as well as people wishing to take on an employee. All boys wanting to undergo the choosing – which was most of them, would also gather there. They were paraded, they dueled with swords, they did what they were asked. All the while, the masters took notes. Then for 10 days and 10 nights, the masters would collaborate, choosing who they wished to take, or choosing to take none at all. There were usually only a hand full of masters available, 14 at most, and there were often in excess of 200 there waiting to be chosen. Those who were chosen would leave with their masters, and those wishing to take on an employee would approach the remainder, those left un-chosen would either start their own business, or, as was more common, end up throwing themselves off of a cliff. There were rarely ever more than 2 un-chosen. An apprenticeship however could be gained before the choosing by seeing the master, and proving your worth. It was rare, but it did happen. These days, that is the only way to get one. There are books of laws relating solely to apprenticeships, which would effectively take you out from under Albus' thumb."

Harry nodded. Opened his mouth as if to speak, then closed it again.

"Speak Potter, I know you want to."

"Could you?"

"What?"

"Take me on as an apprentice?"

To say the look on Severus Snapes face was comical was an understatement.

"Why would you ask me to be your Master? I am sure Minerva would love to take you on, or any of the other teachers. Their beloved Gryffindor Harry Potter."

"That's exactly why."

"We will discuss it later, you need to read up on them, and I need to refresh my memory. I will come by your house in 3 days and we will discuss it. I will have the guide books mailed to you when I get back to Hogwarts. It needs to be kept under wraps for as long as possible."

They sat in silence, until the secretary entered the room again, and called for Severus. As he made it to the door, Harry spoke up.

"Professor?... Thanks… For considering it and all."

"Your welcome Potter."

Half an hour, and half a bottle of ink later, Harry was given a folder of documents and a portkey.

When he arrived back at Privet Drive, a parcel was waiting on his bed, wrapped up in brown paper and twine. Atop was a note. "Read it all, if we do this, we do it properly. S.S.". Inside, sat three books.

_Apprenticeships: The History._

_Apprenticeships: The Apprentice Guide._

_Apprenticeships: The Legal Implications._

All were plain brown leather with gold embossing. The history book was relatively small, the Apprentice guide about 800 pages of text and images, the law book 4,000 pages of small print text.

Over the next three days, Harry memorized as much of the text as possible, knowing that Professor Snape would test him on parts.

At about 6pm on the third night, there was a knock on the door. Opening it, Harry saw the dark man standing there.

"Hello Professor."

"Potter, get changed into this." The dark professor commanded, handing over a set of smart casual clothes.

He quickly ran upstairs, changed and ran back down. The two of them walked out of the house and towards a black Rolls Royce that was sitting in the street. The dark professor indicated that he should get into the passenger side front door, whilst he got into the drivers side. Silently, the car drove off.

About 5 minutes later, Snape spoke up.

"You read the books Potter?"

"Yes sir."

"Good."

"Sir? Where are we going?"

"A restaurant."

Half an hour later, they arrived at a nice restaurant. Severus handed his keys to the valet, and motioned Harry into the building.

"Mister Snape! Table for two? And your office afterwards?"

"Yes thank you Jerome."

After a relatively pleasant meal spent in semi-comfortable silence, they adjourned up stairs and into an elegant office, an office labeled "Severus Snape, Owner/Manager".

"Okay, so Potter, you have read the books. Are you still willing to go through with this?"

"Yes sir."

"And you know that you will be bound to me under the laws of apprenticeship until seven years from now?" Had Harry been listening, he may have given the question more thought, however he dutifully answered "Yes Sir."

"Good. Outline how you see it working then."

"I spend 6 days a week working and learning from you about all magical areas."

"Yes Potter, that is what is mandatory and listed in the book, but come September 1st, how do you see it working. These laws were written before schooling was mainstream. Some compatibility laws have been put in place, but they are few and far between"

"I go to Hogwarts when you do, and do my apprenticeship there…"

"You really have not thought about it have you. Here is how it will be. On September 1st, the two of us will enter the Great Hall, just before dinner starts. You in your apprentice robes, and myself in master robes. You will sit at the head table, to my left. The same thing will occur for every meal. You will have a room off of mine, as well as a work room. Primarily, you will sit in the back of my potions lab and you will study set coursework, practice spell work, or brew potions. Each day we will use a time turner to go back 24 hours, and I will teach you or assist you in projects. Hopefully by the start of term I will have you at an acceptable standard to teach my first and second year classes. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff I suppose. By the end of the first year I want you at a level able to teach up until OWL level. By the start of the next year, you will have to be of a standard to teach NEWT level. To be able to teach NEWT level, you need to have Potions Mastery. You will also master in a number of other areas. It is not good enough for you to end up 'as good as me', you are going to surpass me Potter."

"Sir?"

"I have seen your OWL results Potter. They were not as good as they could have been. God I may not like you overly much, but I know you could do much better than you do currently. Everyone knows that. Minerva knows it, Filius knows it, even Sprout has complained about your lack of effort, and she does not complain often."

"You've seen my results?"

Wordlessly, Severus Snape handed a sheet of paper over to the boy. On the top, written in elegant handwriting, which he instantly recognized as Snapes, he read the letter.

_HJP, OWL Scores._

_Potions: 92 89 O_

_Transfiguration: 82 85 E_

_Charms: 92 88 O_

_Herbology: 88 59 A_

_CoMC: 77 93 E_

_Divination: 80 99 O_

_Astronomy: 45 88 A_

_History: 44 66 A_

_Defense: 99 120 O_

_Number of OWLs: 19/27_

"19is a decent score Potter, however I have no doubts that even with the Dark Lord harassing you and the cow screwing everything up that you could have scored at least 24. Just for your records, Weasley scored 15, and Granger 22"

"And Malfoy?"

"18 These results are strictly confidential. Not even Minerva knows them."

"Then why do you?"

"Minerva has no head for figures. She does all the administrative tasks, like first year letters. I analyze all the results, get reports back from employees about Hogwarts Graduates, and write up reports on each subject. Most of my suggestions are ignored, like allowing me to exorcise that boring ghost which provides most of the school with 3 hours of snooze time a week, or getting rid of that fraud Trelawney. She makes two accurate predictions in her miserable life… Anyway…"

"So you are like the Deputy Deputy head?"

Severus thought for a moment then nodded. "Yes. Minerva, whilst a great teacher and of considerable skill with no blemishes against her name, she is not suited for some of the tasks. Things like holding the wards in emergency situations or performing any great feats of magic upon the castle."

Harry nodded in understanding.

Severus pulled open a draw in the desk and pulled out a folder, flipping it open.

"You need to read and sign these tonight. I need to get these filed as soon as possible with the correct parties. We don't want these leaking out to the public too soon."

Harry quickly read each document and signed them.

Severus picked up the folder and opened a small metal door in the wall that he had not previously noticed. He lit the bottom with his wand, causing a great flame to flare up, then pulled a small lever which dumped floo powder on the flame, into which he placed the documents. Closing the door, he said "Ministry of Magic. Education Department. Private Records. Arthur Midleton."

At Harry's confused look, Severus explained.

"It is an incinerator. With a few modifications they can be hooked into the floo network. Even though this restaurant is predominantly Muggle, my office has a few well disguised magical secrets, another which you will be using in a moment."

Severus stood up and walked over to a book case, tapping it with his wand. The book case dissolved (AN: cliché I know, but stick with what works) revealing a square room no more than 1 and a half meters in each direction, engraved on the floor was a simple pentagram with a pi in the center.

"Apparition is a convenient method of travel, however it requires a license and magic to work. An older, far more arcane form of travel involved the use of a pattern, like this. Going from a pattern requires no magic, from the traveler, instead, a clear image of where the castor wanted to travel was required, usually another pattern. Traveling to a pattern required some magic, a primitive form of apparition. It was not un-common for traveling wizards with the know how to draw their pattern in each campsite they traveled to, allowing messages and occasional people to travel through to them. For larger parties of people, a pattern drawn where the party was, and an identical pattern elsewhere formed an instant connection, anyone stepping on the pattern at one end, instantly moved to the other end. Any location over a thousand years old will have a pattern, Hogwarts and Diagon Alley both have them. Most importantly, our next destination has one. I would think only twenty or so wizards know how to use them these days, we have become lax, using floo for underage travel, and apparition. One good thing about the pattern method is that it does not get blocked by apparition wards, and a pattern is easy to make."

"Is that why you learnt it sir? Spying on the dark lord?"

"Yes Potter, it is. That will be your first assignment. Learn how to create a temporary pattern. Now we have dawdled long enough. Memorise this symbol."

A grubby piece of paper was given to Harry. On it, it had a circle with a pi symbol in the center. Nodding, he handed it back to Snape, who indicated he should stand in the center of the one in the office.

"Imagine the symbol in your minds eye Potter."

Harry closed his eyes and brought forth an image of the symbol. When he opened his eyes a second later he was in a large stone room, in the middle of a huge version of the symbol he imagined.

Seconds later, Severus was also standing there.

"Welcome to Aetas Castrum. How much do you know about runes Potter?"

The sudden tangent caused Harry to look at the potions master as if he was weird. "Nothing sir."

"And Latin?"

"Only spell words sir."

"Okay we will have to change that then Potter. Aetas Castrum is built over the largest Aetas rune in the world. Aetas is Latin meaning a period of time. There are three known Aetas runes in the world Potter, one of which is in my classroom at Hogwarts. The two hour double appears to be three for the very good reason, and that is that it is three hours. There is also a Neglego rune right near it, which causes students to disregard it. These runes are magical, they occur due to twists and turns in the earth, magical flows, unknowingly forming these runes. The size of the rune determines its power. Hogwarts has a rough power-factor on the runic scale of 3. Here, it is almost 30. If you took runes, you would note that power factor is exponential, meaning that it is not 10 times stronger, but rather 10 to the power of 10 times stronger. The Aetas rune in Hogwarts is pushed to it's limits at a 1:1.5 time compression, here, it would be able to do a hundred times that with ease. That is why we are here."

"Sir?"

"Yes Potter."

"Where is the other one?"

"The Ministry of Magic, it forms one of the stabilizing ward keys. I don't know much about it, however I know it is about a 15 in power, and it is able to move the ministry out of sync with the time line by 1 second." Seeing the skeptical look Harry was giving him, he continued "I don't mean forwards in time Potter. I mean that it exists 1 second ahead of us. Which means that if you should want to enter it, you would always be a second late. This is something quite ingenious and although not overly difficult to over come, you have to know about it to do anything about it."

Harry nodded, his interest peaked.

"That is the third area we will be focusing on then Potter. Runes, both natural and man made."

Harry nodded again, then said "Third?"

"Potions, Latin and runes. I suppose we can add on three more subjects easily. Are there any areas of magic that you wish to study in depth Potter? Then after hours, at night you have your project, and in the mornings we will start up a physical training regeim."

"Defense magic?" Harry said, unsure of his answer.

"Are you asking or telling. And what type of defense magic? I could teach you how to kill a vampire, I could show you how to block spells, defense is a way of thought. Any magic can be put into practical use in a defense situation. Even turning shoes into turtles. Think of some other branches you have heard of. Arithmancy, Alchemy, Legimancy, Necromancy, Ritual Magic, Wandless Magic, the list is endless. And when you become competent at a single part of a skill base, more areas open up. Master legimancy and mentismancy is open to you."

"Mentismancy?"

"The art of breaking a mind. Crushing it under the force of your gaze. Learn Arithmancy, combine it with runes and alchemy and you can learn time magic. Learn ritual magic and necromancy and you can kill dementors. Some of this is considered dark, but all of these fields will help you master others. Magic is lost because people do not learn a number of branches because they are considered dark, yet without the practices of these branches, some of the purest magic is inaccessible. Phasmancy, an art long lost to wizarding eyes is only accessible to someone who has studied necromancy. Phasmancy, the art of moving out of this plane of existence and working instead on the spirit plane. An art I have been trying to learn for the last 3 years."

Harry could tell from listening to the impassioned speech that his professor loved old and obscure types of magic, arts long lost, knowledge. Doing what wizards for the last god know how many centuries have forgotten how to do.

"Potter, do you know why I made the worst decision of my life?"

Harry shook his head.

"He promised me knowledge, access to a library I would have killed to have access too. Then I saw what he was. He looked nothing like he does today Potter. He used to be charismatic and charming. He would speak and you would listen. What he said made so much sense, when he spoke. His words were magic. It was when I got into his library that I found out his voice really was magic. A spell, woven in his words, I stopped seeing him as right, but I admired the magic he wove. Another art I have been trying to learn."

"Your first year speech?"

"Very good Potter, you remember. Yes, your year was my first attempt. All but one student sat enraptured. Everyone but you."

"But I was sir? I was writing down what you said…"

"Really Potter?" The onyx eyed man searched within the green orbs that were Harry's eyes, and found no deception.

"Well then I suppose I was a bit harsh on you. The ability is one that requires a certain… charisma… about the person to work properly. Voldemort had that natural charisma, helped along by the spell, it sits deep within a persons soul. I however lack it, hence its effects wear off relatively quickly."

Harry had hardly noticed, but as they were talking they had left the room, and walked down a hallway, and to a door.

"This is your room Potter, until we get to Hogwarts."

Inside, the walls were a deep blue velvet, and tastefully decorated. There was a desk, bookcase, bed, wardrobe and tall boy in the room, as well as a door, the bathroom obviously behind it.

"Sleep now Potter. When you wake tomorrow I expect you to have decided the other three branches you will study first, then we will go to Diagon Alley."

Harry yawned and nodded, thanking the man. When the door closed, Harry stripped and went to bed.

The next morning, Harry got up and dressed. When he opened the door, a small house elf popped up besides him.

"Mister Potter is to follow Zinny." The small elf instructed.

Nodding, Harry followed the elf, only noticing the clothing the elf was wearing when they reached a large dining room.

"Thankyou Zinny." Harry said, just as she raised her fingers to pop away.

"You'se welcome Mister Potter." And with a POP she was gone.

Taking a seat at the foot of the table, he managed to get part way through his meal before Severus walked in.

"Potter."

"Professor."

"Master."

"Sir?"

"The apprenticeship started 10 minutes ago Potter, get used to using my title. I suppose I should get used to using yours as well. Apprentice Potter."

"Okay Master Snape."

When Severus had finished, he looked up from his plate.

"Have you decided which three areas you want to focus on Apprentice."

"Yes Master, Ritual Magic, Arithmancy and Alchemy."

"Good choices. We will be going to Diagon Alley in a minute. I have sent Zinny to retrieve your personal effects."

Seconds later, Zinny appeared, and handed him the robes he had worn at the solicitors, and his wand. Taking the hint, Harry left the room and changed into the wizarding attire, ensuring the cowl covered his face.

When he returned, Severus stood, and indicated that he should follow. They walked to the pattern room, and he pulled out a small book, handing it to Harry.

"Page 12 Apprentice Potter."

Harry flipped to page 12. "Thankyou Master."

Upon the page sat a diagram of a top hat and wand in the middle of a circle. He brought the image to the front of his mind, this time not closing his eyes. He watches as the scenes suddenly changed and he was standing in the middle of another brick room, this one much smaller.

It did not take him long to notice that the room was hardly ever used. There were occasional footprints that could be seen in the dust. An impatient nod from Snape told Harry that they would begin moving now.

The door creaked open, and the two stepped out into the alley, right next to Madame Malkins, which also happened to be their first stop.

"Ah, Severus, and… Well I never. Hello Harry." Madame Malkin remarked as Harry drew back his cowl.

Harry gave a brief "Hi" to the overactive seamstress.

"We need master and apprentice robes Madame." Snape politely demanded with a whisper.

The woman gasped a little, then nodded, pulling them into the back room.

"I gather you wanted privacy. Black robes with gold trimming for you, Severus, and Black with Silver for Mister Potter here if I remember correctly."

Severus nodded, indicating she did indeed have the colours corect.

"Deep cowling?"

Another nod.

"Flowing?"

A nod.

"And a trenchcoat of the same style?"

Another nod.

"Am I to use the Snape crest, or your own crest?"

"My own."

"Very well, they will be ready in an hour. Come back then."

Severus nodded and indicated for Harry to follow him.

Their next stop was Gringots, a mere hop step and jump from Madame Malkin's. Severus led Harry up to the Head Goblins desk, and waited to be acknowledge.

"Mister Potter would like to make an inheritance claim."

The Head Goblin nodded and rang a small bell. A goblin stepped out of a nearby office, and beckoned the two humans in.

"Inheritance Claim for Mister Potter, correct?"

Severus nodded.

"Blood sample."

"Hold out your arm Apprentice." Harry did so. "_Abducto_." The dark man cast along one of Harry's veins. A small amount of blood gathered at the tip of the dark black wand. The goblin pointed to a small crystal jar, which Severus then pointed his wand at. "_Repono_". The blood flowed into the jar, filling it. The goblin pulled out a small black stone and dropped it into the blood, which instantly turned black. The goblin pulled out a quill and dipped it into the jar, then placed the tip onto a piece of parchment. To Harry's amazement it began writing.

_Potter – Vault 12_

_Black – Vault 10 (CLAIMED)_

_Potter Trust_

_Evans – Vault 53_

_Faehre – Vault 3_

"Well Mister Potter. Sign here. And Here. And initial Here."

When the paperwork was filed, Severus spoke up again. "All of the books in the above Vaults, transfer them into a trunk. Also, as Potter is now apprenticed, he has a wage. Set up a separate vault for payment."

The goblin nodded, and filled out some more paperwork.

"Master Severus Snape," the goblin spoke up, "did you want an initial sum transferred into the apprentice vault?"

"Three thousand Galleons. And I want an apprentice signet ring and a master signet ring made up for the vault, using my personal crest."

The goblin nodded, made a few notes on a piece of parchment, and opened a draw, pulling out two ring boxes. The goblin held his hand over the two boxes for a short moment, they glowed green, then sprung open. Inside one sat a silver signet ring, upon it was a serpent, woven around a pair of crossed wands. The other held the same thing, only in gold.

Severus took the silver one and motioned for Harry's hand. He placed it upon Harry's middle finger on his right hand. He then placed the gold ring on his own finger.

"These are linked for payment Goblin?"

The creature nodded.

"Is that all sir?"

"Can you ask Grindelow Goldhook whether my request was approved?" the older man asked the goblin.

"It has been Mister Snape. He will deliver on Thursday."

Severus nodded, then indicated that Harry should follow him. Throughout the day they stopped at a number of shops, some that Harry had not known existed. He was decked out with clothing and weapons, armor and books, ingredients and tools. They did a quick run through Nocturn Alley, quickly buying a number of shady items, then leaving. The last stop for the day was Muggle London, where they bought clothing and a number of non-magical tools.

It was towards the end of the day, as they were having coffee that Severus brought up the final shopping topic for the day.

"Potter, apprenticeships are steeped in tradition. That is why we bought swords. However they have never moved with the times. The Dark Lord is protected extremely well from magical attacks, much like a vampire, many spells have no effect. A spell like the AK will do very little to him. I have thought about it over the years, and come to realise something. Every single time that he has been injured by a spell, it has been indirect. A flame spell igniting the ground, a spell causing wind to hit him and force him back into something. Things like that. You hit him with a reducto, nothing happens. I have seen some spy's do that. They infiltrate the ranks, then try to take him out with the blood boiling curse, or something to that effect. I see them hit. I see them get absorbed. Our final stop is to buy a tool muggles use for fights. Have you heard of a gun?"

Harry nodded.

"It is a tool that could be of great use. Blasting a hole through the dark lords heart may not kill him, but he will feel it. It will allow you to get closer to him, or earn you more time. The gun also has a tradition in more modern duels. I made most of the potions that have made the dark lord as he is today, most are experimental, and most I regret making, however one had an adverse effect that may benefit us. Due to the blood of unicorns he has ingested, combined with this potion, the bones of a dead unicorn cause him great pain. Should a bullet of unicorn bone be imbedded in him, then it will be that much worse. I am the only one who knows of the weakness, so once that method is used, my cover is blown."

"Your cover will be blown as soon as people learn I am your apprentice though sir."

"No Potter, it isn't. Voldemort does not want to kill you at the moment. He wants to recruit you. If you do refuse to his face, he will try to kill again. Then he will go back to trying to recruit you. He will see your split from Dumbledore to be an advantage, and he will reward me greatly. I will say that although I have managed to achieve this much, I am working on making you see things his way. I will either be raised to Right Hand Man, or I will be crucioed for taking initiative, then raised to the Inner most circle. This could not come at a better time."

So with that, they went to a gun trader and purchased one each, as well as a re-loader.

Finally the two returned to the castle, where they unpacked. They went to the dining room for dinner, then Severus led him to the study.

Harry's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets when he saw the opulence of the study – it was far nicer than Dumbledores, and was filled with a number of gadgets and gizmo's, a large number of books, and a large desk.

Severus walked around the shelves until he found the books he was looking for, then sat behind the desk, indicating for Harry to move a chair around and sit.

Severus flipped through the first book, which Harry noticed was more a binder of parchment, until he found the page he wanted.

"Potter, this is the first document I found on pattern travel theory. It explains some of the basics of using the system. This book," Severus indicated a black book "This is the only one with information on the actual system developed, which is why you will not be using it. The remainder of these books contain the notes of many individuals on the theory behind it. Some are incorrect, some are contradictory, and some are spot on. This book" Severus picked up a brown book "contains a large amount of Arithmantical calculus relating to the system, which will mean very little to you at the moment, however it is also the most helpful. The purpose of the projects I give you are to force you to branch out your skill base, and combine all the aspects together. I mean creating a pattern could be a charm combined with a potion, transfiguration combined with arithmancy, these branches of magic are not branches at all. They are just crude divisions used to allow teachers to teach. People don't think to combine them. You will spend your evenings working on a project of some type, set by me. You also have a deadline for each. This one is a week. Within the week, I want you to develop a thorough understanding of the theory behind the method, create two patterns, and create the apparition based spell to transport to a pattern. All the details of how it works are in these books, however anything you do not understand, you will need to research. All of your research is to be done on rolls of parchment, and I want detailed notes and diagrams. Spell incantations are to be Latin based and should be unique. You should be able to give me details of any created spells, and allow myself to recreate the effect without any customization. I would suggest you start making notes on these books now. As this is your first project, I will also give you a hint. The major parts of the process are arithmantic, charms and runes."

Harry nodded his thanks, and picked up the small pile of books, taking them back to his room.

At 3am the next morning, Harry quickly cast a tidying charm over his desk, causing the sheets of parchment to roll themselves up neatly and stack. Then he collapsed into his bed. Severus Snape crept out of the shadows, pulled out his wand and pointed at the castle walls, muttering a quick phrase under his breath. Under the castle, a magical current began glowing green.

9 hours later, at 6am in the morning (-AN-Yes, it makes sense people, remember the aetas rune sitting under the castle –AN-) Severus muttered another phrase, whilst his pointy stick was pointed at the wall.

An hour later, Harry awoke to the sound of his alarm, and felt extremely refreshed. He pulled on the robes that Madame Malkin had created, masterpieces in their own right. The black robes were made of a thick material, with a silver design adorning both the cuffs and edges. The buttons were black with metal engravings as well. Upon the back was a silver snake, encircling two crossed wands. Snapes personal crest. Upon his chest sat an encircled Dagaz (l l) rune, which apparently symbolized transformation and change. Severus Snape was also wearing a robe almost identical to the one Harry wore, the only difference, the colour – his was gold. Both wore a signet ring on their right middle finger, coloured to match the trimming upon their robes.

At 7:05, Severus opened the door, and passed a piece of parchment to Harry.

"Master?" Harry asked.

"This is a list of books and page numbers. They are basic arithmancy books. Now you have until 7:30 to have breakfast, then you are to meet me in my study. We will begin Arithmancy. All the books listed, you purchased yesterday."

Harry looked over to the bookshelves, which were filled with books, nodding. Minutes later, Harry was finishing his breakfast, and making his way towards the study. He sat in the same seat he had sat in the night before, and awaited Severus.

Arithmancy, Harry decided, was enjoyable. They had covered the basics, paramaterisation of magic, interaction between variables, and analysis of basic number plots. They worked on a simple version of the Stupify spell, figuring out what a shield for a stupefy would need. After three hours, Severus stopped the lesson, and stood, indicating that Harry should follow him. He led him down three levels, until they were in front of a large wooden door. Across the top, embossed in gold were the words "POTION LAB". Inside the room were three large cauldrons, obviously for large batches in a row down the center. To the left were three doors, labeled "STABLE" "UNSTABLE" "TOOLS AND UTILITIES", obviously store rooms. The front of the room contained a large work bench with a shelf filled with extremely common ingredients. The right wall was lined with machinery, which Harry suspected (correctly) was used for mass preparation of ingredients. The back wall was filled with lists of interaction charts and diagrams, along with substitution lists and conversion charts.

"Apprentice, you have an hour to produce the base of a burn salve. You will make it in the large center cauldron. The capacity of the cauldron is 100 gallons, four hundred times as much as your standard size 4 pewter cauldron. I want a full batch. When you are ready to cut up the ingredients, I will show you how to use the prep tools over there."

Harry began working on the potion, every so often getting quick commands like "No, that is for small batches, use this spell instead" or "You don't need to stir by hand, use this spell". Severus showed Harry how to use the mechanical tools to prepare potions ingredients without spoiling them, and very soon, the base for a burn salve was created.

"Now Apprentice Potter, you know that to turn this into a burn salve, you are required to add three ingredients in a specific order, with specific steps in between. Here is what you are to do now. You are to decant using the _Frofui _spell, a portion of this potion into a smaller cauldron. Using your knowledge of potions and the charts on the back wall, chance the properties of the healing salve. For example, add bicorn horn instead of cows horn, and you end up with a potion that actually cures magic burnout, instead of burns. By studying bicorn's magical properties, you can tell that that happens. Use a dictation quill and parchment to take notes. Comment on consistency, color, smell, taste, texture, prediction and effect. There is a spell that I use in class before making students test a failed potion, called _Assimulo_, which simulates the effect of the potion on a body, causing any dictation quill in the room to draw diagrams and notes. It just so happens that I have one on my desk at all times, so I can test potions discretely. Assimulo is useful for you, as it saves you having to detail effect, as the spell does it for you."

For the next five hours, Harry made over 200 variations on the potion, filling the room with pages of notes. Severus collected them all up, flicking through the pages, nodding.

"Good Apprentice. Go and have some lunch." Harry looked at his watch, 1pm. (-AN- There will of course be many idiosyncrasies with time due to the loction-AN-) After he had been fed, he made his way back to the study, where Severus stood waiting.

"Are you ready to learn runic magic Apprentice?"

"Yes Master."

"Runes are vague in purpose, and their alignment matters. By changing the orientation, you can invert or reflect its original purpose. For example."

Severus held his hands as if holding a ball, in the middle a glowing rune started to form. When it was bright, he moved his hands outwards, expanding it, then he turned his palms outwards, pushing the rune forwards with great speeds. Freezing the wall and covering it with frost. He then did the same rune a second time, this time back to front. He projected the rune outwards until it hit the wall. The ice began to boil, and soon small spot fires started up.

"That was runic casting, the first was a rune for freezing. By reversing it, it became a rune of burning. There are books filled with runes, which act much like simple spells. Combining these with arithmancy complex interactions are made between the runes. The first step for runic magic is to learn the basic runes." Severus stood up and found a large bound book on the shelves.

"This is a compendium of most of the known runes. It covers their meanings, purpose and use. As such, again, you will not be using it. Actually…" Severus pulled out his wand, and a number of books started re-arranging themselves. Soon there was a whole bookshelf filled with black bound books.

Severus cast a quick spell over the bookshelf. "All of these books, you may not touch. All the rest, feel free to use them. The basic runes are detailed in a number of books," Severus summoned three. "Read them, know them, learn them."

Whilst Harry was reading the books, Severus walked over to the shelf filled with black books and pulled one out, fingering the gold embossed letters that he was so familiar with.

Replacing the book, he turned to his apprentice. "I will be back in a moment Apprentice."

Harry nodded, and Severus swept out the door, robes billowing behind him. He stalked down the corridor, down three flights of steps and stood in front of a large fountain. Speaking the password, he watched as the base turned into a set of stairs, the water still cascading down. Grimacing at the water, he made his way to the bottom, where a lone figure sat in the shadows.

"Hello Master." the voice spoke softly.

"You are no longer my Apprentice, you have surpassed me by far."

"Yes, but according to our agreement I am still your apprentice."

The dark man nodded. "Why did you need to speak to me then Apprentice."

"Add three drops of his blood to this potion and have him drink it in 20 days. Before you have him drink it, make sure he has everything on this list in his possession."

A piece of parchment written in elegant script was handed to the dark potions master.

"After he is out of the picture, I can come out from the darkness. Tell him to remember the pattern."

The potions master nodded again.

"In twenty days then." With that, the potions master climbed up the water covered steps. The dark man smiled, drew his cloak around himself, and disappeared. Less than a month.


	2. Chapter 2

Review Responses/Questions that need explaining:

Snape having the OWL papers – yes they are marked by a standards board, but they sent back the papers to the school so that they can be analyzed to figure out weak points in the curriculum.

Hedwig – (apologies for the miss-spelling, I know it is Hedwig, I just missed it), She does have a place in the story, albeit very minor.

Why was Harry disguised/Why did he not give Remus a piece of his mind – Basically Dumbles did not want Harry owning the Black vault, as it meant next time he was in, he would have to see the goblins (as he did with Severus), which would make him inherit the Potter vault. And there are some things hidden in there that he does not want Harry to have. Harry has not entered the vaults yet, although he will enter one in this chapter. Remus' reaction was shame, his head was hung as he walked out the door… spose I should have mentioned that… woops. And Harry did not give Remus a piece of his mind due to the fact that then Dumbles would then know he was there.

Re: Continuing my other stories (namely Karana): Major mental block. I wrote this to dump one of the multitude of ideas in my head for other fics out, and it ended up being reasonable, so I posted it. There is a ton of stuff still 'up in me noggin'.

How Snape got him out is a secret to be revealed at a later date.

ON WITH THE SHOW:

Harry and Severus fell into a rhythm over the next two weeks. Lessons were long and hard, with Harry's biological clock getting extremely confused. Severus crossed off his calendar with increasing trepidation. He knew something would happen when he gave his Apprentice the potion, but he did not know what.

He had been walking down Knockturn Alley a year ago when he had been pulled into an out of the way pub. When he looked at his captor, he saw a man in a deeply cowled cloak. Upon it sat his own personal crest.

Flashback--

"_Welcome Master."_

_Shocked, but refusing to show it, Severus snapped out "Who are you boy? And why are you wearing my crest?"  
_

"_Ah Master, I have missed your whit over these last years. Who I am does not matter. I do have a proposition to offer you. Something neither Voldemort and Dumbldore could satisfy. It's cost however is high."_

_Severus thought about what this person could be talking about, then nodded his interest._

"_I want you to take on an apprentice in a years time. There will be a reading of a will of a once friend. You will take his ward on, and you will train him in what I will teach you."_

_Severus thought about it, yet could not think of who this ward could be._

"_The cost?"_

"_After you take him on, your contact with Voldemort will abruptly cease."_

_Severus looked at the stranger with something akin to worry._

"_You're not telling me something."_

"_Correct. You will find out in time. I will also give you all the books you desire, I will train you whilst you teach at Pigpimples"_

"_Hogwarts?"_

"_Same difference. And I will give you the one thing you require. More time."_

End of Flashback—

Severus smiled slightly. Over the year he had learnt so much from that man, one who insisted on calling him Master, even though it was clear that he was in fact the apprentice. He had been provided access to the castle, and books on arts more advanced than he could hope for. In return he had to take on Potter as an apprentice, and surprisingly, he enjoyed it very much. Now, he had a week until something happened.

Severus watched as his Apprentice pushed another scroll out of the way. He really had applied himself well, and had such a mind. As Severus flipped through his current book, a slip of paper fell out.

_Take your apprentice to see his vault tomorrow. Enjoy the book, come and see me tonight._

That was one thing Severus had noted – any time that HE wanted Severus to do something, without having a meeting, he would slip a note into a book, which he somehow knew Severus would be reading in the near future.

"Apprentice?"

Harry looked up, quill in hand "Yes Master?"

"We are going to Diagon Alley tomorrow. We are going to your vaults."

"Okay Master." Harry lowered his head and began working again.

When Severus flipped the page, there was another slip of paper.

_Gee, don't sound too happy about it._

Severus chuckled to himself.

Later that night, Severus made his way down the fountain once again.

"Welcome back Master" the voice said from the shadows.

"Thankyou."

"Tomorrow you will go to the Faehre vault. Inside is a corridor, with 4 rooms. The first is a room filled with gold and platinum ingots. You are to fill 15 trunks with a good mix of the two. Up the back should be another collection of ores and minerals, fill a few trunks with them as well. Place them outside the door, and lock it again. Walk into the next room. Take three chests and fill them with a selection of equipment, they will again go outside the door. Inside the third door is a room with a pedestal. Upon the pedestal are two chains, both gold. You are both to wear those chains. The final room contains four trunks and two sets of documents. Take all of them. You are not to look at any of them until the event happens."

"What event?"

"You will know master… There is no way that you will not know…" The man in the shadows smirked.

"Yes… time is drawing closer. I have waited years for this. When you have everything, make sure all the doors are locked, then cast _signum_ upon each trunk to mark them. Then you may leave. Let the boy look at all of the other vaults too, if he so desires, just ensure that he takes no coin out. There is no need. Let him browse everything, yet take only three items out of each vault."

"Is that all?"

"Yes Master."

Severus nodded and turned, walking up the stairs.

"Oh and Master?"

"Yes?"

"If I do not talk to you again before the day, Good luck."

Severus nodded again, and resumed his climb.

The next morning the two made their way to Gringots, dressed in their black robes. When they entered, they made their way to the head goblins counter.

"My Apprentice wishes to go to vault number 3." Severus spoke to the goblin.

"Does your Apprentice have a name?"

Severus sneered at the unfriendly Goblin.

"Harry Potter."

"Very well. Follow me."

The head goblin lead the two towards a cart.

"Get in. Hold on." An evil smirk appeared on the goblins face.

When they were all in, the goblin pulled the break lever, disengaging it. The cart moved forwards three feet, then suddenly went into freefall. Severus and Harry looked at each other, both had glee written all over their faces. When it reached the bottom of the track, it sped around a number of curves, and Severus smirked. "Can't this cart go any faster goblin."

Then something that had not happened in a very long time happened. The goblin grinned and tripled the speed of the cart. 5 minutes later, they arrived at their destination, a large wooden door, about 20' high, with large iron bands running from side to side. The goblin told Harry to put his hand on the door. Seconds after obeying, there were a series of dull CLUNKS as a number of locks opened. With a final clunk, the door swung open, allowing the two humans and a goblin into the vault.

The vault was nothing like Severus had expected – he expected a small corridor – instead the corridor was about 100m long. He opened the first door, Harry following behind. The three let out a gasp as they saw the piles of ingots piled within the room. After a quick instruction from Severus, the two filled the 15 trunks with a mix of ingots, then filled another 12 with iron, silver and bronze. Strangely enough, that was barely a dent in the supplies. The goblin obliged them by removing the trunks to the corridor, then they made their way to room two. This one was lined with a pile of tools and supplies, some of extremely good quality, others average. They filled another 4 trunks, and placed them once again outside the room. The other objects were grabbed from their respective rooms, and each one relocked. After each trunk was spelled, Severus turned to Harry.

"Do you want to visit the other vaults?"

Harry nodded. The next stop was the Black Vault, being the closest. Severus told Harry how much he could take from the vault, and 'let him loose'. The black vault was a lot smaller than vault number 3, the Faehre vault, however it was by no means small. Inside, it was a single room, with galleons piled in one half, and the other filled with objects. After Harry had looked around for about an hour, he finally chose the items he would take. One was an ornate broad sword, the next item a necklace, and the final object, a phial of azure liquid, which neither Severus nor the goblin could identify.

The Potter vault was much the same, however instead of an hour of examination, it took three – turns out the Potters had dumped everything from furniture to books in that vault. The final items that Harry had taken were a ceremonial dagger, a non-magical painting and an ornate trunk.

The Evans vault, being a family with a low magical saturation rate (all males were squibs, and the females married outside the family) was not much larger than the trust vault that Harry used to buy school supplies with. Inside however was a vast array of jewelry, 3 of which, Harry placed in a velvet bag.

When they returned to the surface, the goblin bid them good day and let them leave. As they left, a man in a blue cloak, walked up to Severus.

"A man just asked me to give you this sir." Was all he said before turning and leaving.

_Master._

_Well done, you have followed my instructions to the word. I suggest you try and make a detour to Number 4 Privet Drive to collect the boy's owl. There is a pattern inside his house – shown below. I made it when I picked up his gear for you._

_I thought you would like to know – the azure coloured liquid is not a potion, but rather a very expensive oil – The phial is more valuable than the rest of the vault combined – make sure your boy knows that, it will come in handy._

_Your Apprentice._

Severus chuckled.

"Master?" Harry asked, a question clear in his voice.

"Nothing Apprentice. We have to pick up your owl, don't we?"

Harry nodded. Severus tore of the bottom of the parchment which contained an image of an owl within a circle.

Remember this pattern, it is where we are going next. It will take us towards you owl.

Harry nodded, and the two headed back to the pattern. Seconds later they were in the middle of Harry's bedroom.

The pattern was engraved as a small symbol in the corner of the loose floorboard.

"This your room?"

Harry nodded as Severus looked around with disgust.

"All you need to do is find anything you wish to take with you and cast _iunctum_ upon it. The movement is the typical swish and flick. It will connect that item to you magically for about 20 minutes, meaning it will be dragged along with you when you use the pattern." Again, Harry nodded, and began casting the spell upon a few items – Hedwig and her cage namely. When he was done, Severus motioned Harry over to the pattern. Seconds later there was not a trace of the two.

Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was on guard duty at that time smiled. Yes, everything was going according to plan. He walked over to the bushes and knelt down.

"The owl has been delivered."

"Thank you Kingsley. I suppose I better get back into the house then."

Kingsley nodded. A dark figure stepped out of the bushes and stood up. As he walked towards the house, his shape slowly changed into that of a 16 year old boy with messy black hair. He turned briefly and saluted mockingly, which Kingsley returned.

"I'll be disappearing again tomorrow during your shift Kingsley. I have to stage a death."

Kingsley nodded. "Your own?", the man nodded, "Okay boss. See you then", Kingsley replied, knowing that tomorrow, a body would be found, and a simple diagnostic spell would show "Heart Attack – Natural Causes". Nothing would be reported. In a few months, papers for a new identity would appear at the ministry. It was something that Kingsley had learnt not to ask about. All he knew was that with monotonous regularity the man's identity changed.

Meanwhile, Severus was looking over the parchment Harry had given him, a book on how the pattern system worked, how to make patterns and the spells required. With a flick of his wand, and a soft "_necto_" the book was neatly bound in black leather. It was by no means finished, but it was enough. He stood up from his chair and made his way to Harry's room.

"Good work Apprentice. What do you want to study next?"

Harry thought about it for a second.

"Shape Changing?"

"Sounds like a good study. There are some basic works on metamorphmagus' in my library." Severus nodded, then walked out the door.

"I will be back with them in a moment."

Which is exactly what happened – moments later, Severus returned with a single thin book.

"It's not much. Basically it describes the magic surrounding them as they change, which is slightly different to that of self transfiguration. I can't make much else out I'm afraid. You may have better luck."

"Thankyou Master."

Severus nodded, then left.

It was the day. The day Severus had been waiting for with trepidation. He was currently sitting in his library reading a muggle book. Again, as he flipped the page, a note fell out.

_Master._

_It is a sad day for all, but it has to happen. At 7:40 tonight have your wardrobes gathered. You are to take no books or objects. Just clothes. Gather everything and place it in the pattern room._

_Add the blood to the potion, and have him drink it. Unfortunately Master I cannot make one for you. It has to happen this way. Oh how I wish it didn't. _

_I will not see you again Master, how ever it was an honor. Although who knows, you may return after you have left. I suppose that makes no sense to you… but that's what happens when you have had a life like mine._

_I know you do not know exactly what happens, but can I ask you to be understanding when you break it to him. I know you will not be but it is worth asking. I have worked for years to get all this to go according to plan_

_Let us all hope I do not fail tonight._

_Your humble apprentice_

Severus frowned at the note. He would do as it said – just as he always did. He did not like going into situations with his eyes shut.

That night, at 7:40, the master and apprentice were standing in the center of the pattern room. Severus added three drops of Harry's blood to the potion discretely – know that his Apprentice knew the illegality of adding blood to potions – and handed the potion to him. Without a word, Harry downed the sickly red potion, gagging at the taste.

Seconds later the cowled man stepped into the room, appearing from nowhere.

"_hora imagio transio praevenio_" he spoke loudly – as he spoke, a blue glow surrounded everyone but the cowled man. The glow increased hundred fold, before exploding outwards.

"It is done."

The cowled man pulled back the hood, revealing an man, no older than 25, with black messy hair and green eyes.

Meanwhile, at Hogwarts, a number of alarms went off. An old blue eyed man looked grave. There was only one thing those alarms could mean – Severus Snape and Harry Potter were no more. As if on cue, Kingsley Shacklebolt fell out of the floo.

"Sir! Harry has disappeared. One second he was there, the next he disappears in a bright flash of white light!"

The old man slumped in his chair.

"Thankyou Kingsley, please go and investigate."

The auror nodded and left through the floo smirking. Everything went according to plan.

Well that is a teaser-esque sort of thing. I want to really flesh this out some - especially detailing the first 2 weeks, and I do not want to add more to the end of this chapter, as I will be starting Chapter 3 from Hogwarts at the start of the school year… Don't worry, I will cover what happened to Harry in great detail in later chapters, although there is a brief overview in the next one.

I hope my conspiracy has become far more juicy by now ;-P


End file.
